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The RX is Lexus’ cash cow, which might be why the automaker erred toward caution with its redesign. Although the sheetmetal—including the polarizing Predator grille—and the interior design are both new, under its skin the fourth-generation RX sports a chassis dating back to the Clinton administration and a powertrain not much younger than that.

It shows, too. The chassis of both our V-6-powered RX 350 and hybrid RX 450h proved themselves to be unrefined and rattle-prone over gravel roads and poorly maintained freeways. “The shocks are rock hard,” Scott Evans said, “and the body control isn’t any better.”

The powertrains proved to be hit and miss. Our RX 350 tester, a pseudo-sporty F Sport model that features a slightly stiffer suspension and revised transmission tuning, didn’t feel particularly sporty during our evaluations, the eight-speed’s constant gear-hunting a particular annoyance. The RX 450h was more in line with what we’ve come to expect from the Lexus brand; Jason Cammisa called it “buttery smooth.”

Inside is a hodgepodge of randomly placed buttons, plastics, leather, and a mouse-based infotainment system that’s a usability nightmare. The outside doesn’t get much better; Angus MacKenzie called the exterior “a brutalist mess, an amateurish mishmash of lines and surfaces dominated by an ugly, oversized grille.”

The Lexus RX may have had the right stuff to earn our very first SUV of the Year title in 1999 when it redefined the segment. But a lack of advancement in engineering or design stymied the RX’s chances this time around.